Gheorghe Chiper

Gheorghe Chiper (born 8 April 1978) is a Romanian former competitive figure skater. He is an eight-time Romanian national champion and competed at two Olympic Games. He is the first Romanian skater to win a medal on the Grand Prix circuit and the first Romanian to land a quadruple toe loop in competition.^[1]

Gheorghe Chiper
Chiper at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Born	(1978-04-08) 8 April 1978 (age 46) Miercurea Ciuc, Socialist Republic of Romania
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Romania
Skating club	SC Miercurea Ciuc
Began skating	1983
Retired	2006

Career

Competitive Figure Skating Career

Chiper competed at three World Junior Championships; his best result was 15th in 1997.

Chiper made his senior World Championships debut in 1998, finishing 16th in the qualifying round. The following season, Chiper won his first senior national title.

In the 2000–01 season, he was coached by Sylvia Holtes in Groningen, Netherlands.^[2] In 2001–02, Sandra Schär became his coach in Küsnacht, Switzerland.^[3] Chiper competed at his first Olympics in 2002, placing 23rd.

At the 2005 European Championships, Chiper achieved his best European result, 8th.

In winning bronze at the 2005 Trophee Eric Bompard, Chiper became the first Romanian to ever medal on the Grand Prix series.^[1] He placed 14th at his second Olympics in Torino, Italy. He competed for the final time at the 2006 World Championships where he also placed 14th, his career-best Worlds result.

Since his competitive retirement, he has worked as a coach in Switzerland.^[4]

Coaching career

Chiper has worked as a figure skating coach in Zurich Switzerland since 2001. In 2009 he co-founded Skate Academy Switzerland GmbH where he works as head-coach overseeing a team of assistant coaches, conditioning staff and choreographers.^[5]

Chiper's figure skating students have achieved numerous national titles and competed in international competitions. Chiper has coached his teammembers to qualify and compete at Junior Grand Prix, Junior World Championships, European Youth Olympic Festivals, Youth Olympic Games, European and World Championships, Grand Prix and Olympic Games 2014 and 2022. Former and current students include Myriam Leuenberger, Moris Pfeiffhofer, Tina Stürzinger, Zoltan Kelemen, Tanja Odermatt, Leon Auspurg, Eveline Brunner, Alexia Paganini, Georgii Pavlov, and Sarina Joos.^[6][7][8]

In October 2022 Chiper was nominated for the Swiss Olympic Coach Award.^[9]

Personal life

Chiper was born on 8 April 1978 in Miercurea Ciuc, Romania.^[1] He speaks Romanian, Hungarian, English, Dutch, Italian, French and German.^[10][11] He is of part-Hungarian descent.^[11] In 2000, he married Sandra Schär, with whom he has a daughter, Flora, and a son, Aurel.

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating
2005–06 [1][12]	Groove Collection by Brigade Mondaine Marrocon (modern Gypsy collection) choreo. by Sandra Schär	Balkan gypsy music choreo. by Sandra Schär, Pasquale Camerlengo
2004–05 [13]	Groove Collection by Brigade Mondaine	Balkan gypsy music
2003–04 [14]	Spirit of Morocco	The Groove Maker by Michel Besson Triangle by Lydie Auvray Saint Luce by Lydie Auvray
2002–03 [15]	Tango (from The Monster) by Evan Lurie	The Groove Maker by Michel Besson Triangle by Lydie Auvray Saint Luce by Lydie Auvray
2001–02 [3][12]	El Mostro (Tango) by Evan Lurie	Léon: The Professional by Éric Serra
2000–01 [2]	American Beauty by Thomas Newman	Black Cat, White Cat performed by Goran Bregović

Results

GP: Grand Prix

International[16]
Event	94–95	95–96	96–97	97–98	98–99	99–00	00–01	01–02	02–03	03–04	04–05	05–06
Olympics								23rd				14th
Worlds				31st			21st		18th	17th	18th	14th
Europeans					20th	29th	15th	18th	9th	9th	8th	9th
GP Bompard											5th	3rd
GP Cup of Russia								7th
GP NHK Trophy										7th
GP Skate Canada											12th
Crystal Skate							2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st
Finlandia Trophy							12th	3rd	2nd	1st
Golden Spin				10th	7th	8th	6th		1st
Schäfer Memorial							4th	6th
Nebelhorn Trophy				11th	17th		9th
Nepela Memorial					11th
Universiade			14th
International: Junior[16]
Junior Worlds	27th	23rd	15th
National[16]
Romanian Champ.	4th J.	4th	3rd	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st
J. = Junior level

References

1. "Gheorghe CHIPER: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006.
2. "Gheorghe CHIPER: 2000/2001". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 17 April 2001.
3. "Gheorghe CHIPER: 2001/2002". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 11 June 2002.
4. Osborne, Magdalena (2008). "Gheorghe Chiper behind the boards". AbsoluteSkating.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
5. "Skate Academy - Switzerland". Skate Academy - Switzerland. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
6. Peking, Nicole Vandenbrouck aus (2022-02-14). "Paganini-Exploit dank Trennung von Lambiel?". Blick (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 2023-08-19.
7. "Biography". www.isuresults.com. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
8. "Schweizer kämpfen um Kür-Qualifikation | Südostschweiz". www.suedostschweiz.ch (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 2023-08-19.
9. "SWISS ICE SKATING". www.swissiceskating.ch. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
10. Dobor, Helga (2005). ""The only important thing is to improve" - A chat with Gheorge Chiper, Part I". AbsoluteSkating.com. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
11. Dobor, Helga (2005). ""The only important thing is to improve" - A chat with Gheorge Chiper, Part II". AbsoluteSkating.com.
12. "Programs". Official website of Gheorghe Chiper. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016.
13. "Gheorghe CHIPER: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 5 April 2005.
14. "Gheorghe CHIPER: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 18 June 2004.
15. "Gheorghe CHIPER: 2002/2003". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 18 June 2003.
16. "Gheorghe CHIPER". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.

External links

• Skate Academy
• Official site
• Gheorghe Chiper at the International Skating Union